After refusing for a week to answer questions about whether he'd ever hired prostitutes, U. S. Sen. David Vitter emerged from seclusion on Monday to apologize again for "actions from my past" without owning up to what those misdeeds entailed.

"I want to again offer my deep, sincere apologies to all those I have let down and disappointed with these actions from my past," Vitter said. "I am completely responsible. And I am so very, very sorry. No matter how long ago it was, I know this has hurt the relationship of trust I've enjoyed with so many of you, and that I have a lot of work to do to rebuild that. I will work every day to rebuild that trust."

Even as he expressed regret, Vitter said he would not entertain "endless questions" about his alleged involvement with an escort service in Washington and an infamous brothel in New Orleans. Vitter made no specific reference to the allegations, but said only that "those New Orleans stories" are not true.

Vitter appeared before a gallery of reporters with his wife Wendy at his side, and the couple described the senator's transgressions as a private matter in their marriage.

Wendy Vitter kept her eyes trained on the floor as her husband spoke, but she turned her gaze on him at a single moment -- as he thanked her for forgiving his indiscretions.

"I confronted it in confession and marriage counseling," Vitter said. "I believe I received forgiveness from God. I know I did from Wendy, and we put it behind us."

As reporters began shouting questions at the senator, his wife took the podium and seemed to steel herself for the cameras.

"Like all marriages, ours is not perfect. None of us are. But we chose to work together as a family," she said. "When David and I dealt with this several years ago, I forgave David. I made the decision to love him and to recommit to our marriage. To forgive is not always the easy choice, but it was and is the right choice for me. David is my best friend.

"Last week," she continued, "some people very sympathetically said to me, 'I wouldn't want to be in your shoes right now.' I stand before you to tell you very proudly, I am proud to be Wendy Vitter."

The news conference at the Metairie Sheraton marked Vitter's first public appearance since Larry Flynt, the publisher of Hustler magazine, excavated the senator's phone number from the records of a woman under indictment for running a prostitution ring in Washington, D.C. A subsequent review of the records by The Times-Picayune revealed five calls from Vitter's phone between 1999 and 2001.

Vitter confessed to a "very serious sin" last Monday and then retreated into seclusion. His staff refused to disclose his whereabouts, and he missed voting on measures before the Senate that would have limited the length of troop deployments in Iraq.

As the senator remained in a virtual bunker, the allegations continued to grow. One day after he apologized for the Washington matter, a former New Orleans madam said Vitter was an occasional patron of the brothel she ran in Mid-City.

Federal agents shut down the New Orleans bordello in 2001, and the senator's name never appeared in notes or records that were seized during the investigation, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Vitter issued a statement last week emphasizing that no records existed to tie him to the establishment.

Last week, a woman who said she worked as a prostitute under the name Wendy Cortez also said that Vitter was a regular customer of hers when he was a state representative in the 1990s.

The woman's former fiance, Tait Cortez, corroborated her claim and said he had confronted the woman about the relationship after he found photos of her and Vitter. Tait Cortez said he split with the woman, whose maiden name was Wendy Yow, after he learned she was working as a prostitute.

At Monday's news conference, Vitter responded without being specific.

"Unfortunately, my admission has encouraged some long-time political enemies and those hoping to profit from the situation to spread falsehoods, like those New Orleans stories in recent reporting," Vitter said. "Those stories are not true."

Vitter said he has no plans to discuss the issue further.

"That might sell newspapers, but it wouldn't serve my family or my constituents well at all because we all have a lot of important work to do for Louisiana," he said.

His wife tried to preempt additional news coverage by invoking the couple's four children, all of them under age 13. She said the kids endured an "incredibly trying and very sad" week as reports continued to surface about the prostitutes in Louisiana and Washington.

"Now I'm going to speak to you as a mother, and I hope you will understand," Wendy Vitter said. "It's been terribly hard to have the media parked on our front lawn and following us every day. And yesterday the media was camped at our church -- at our home and at our church every day."

The couple gave the news conference in a hotel conference room no bigger than a two-car garage. A few supporters, including Vitter's cousin Jim St. Raymond, were at the Sheraton, but media comprised most of the audience.

A few students from the College Republicans club at the University of New Orleans were there to demand Vitter's resignation. They said he had tarnished the party's reputation and criticized Vitter for holding the news conference an hour before U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal, another Republican, officially kicked off his campaign for governor.

Louisiana Republican Party Chairman Roger Villere said the Vitters made forceful statements that were likely to help the couple prevail over the scandal, but also expressed disappointment that it nearly coincided with Jindal's campaign launch.

"I think if nothing else comes out, and this is all there is, then three weeks from now, this will all be behind (Vitter)," Villere said.

The Vitters entered the conference room at precisely 5:05 p.m. and spoke for about five minutes. They exited to a circus of shouts and pleas from reporters, who tried in vain to ask questions. Cameramen and reporters dashed outside and circled the building, but there was no sign of the couple.

Vitter said during the news conference that he was flying back to Washington on Monday night to resume his work on important legislation, including a water resources bill.

He returns to the Senate as it is embroiled in a debate over the war in Iraq, but he is likely to feel at the center of a battle himself.

The senator is expected to be greeted on Capitol Hill by reporters looking to press him on details about his connections to a Washington escort service that prosecutors allege was a call-girl operation. All last week, camera crews were parked in front of his Washington apartment building and congressional office.

Even Monday, a small contingent was waiting outside his congressional office before news of his Metairie press conference shifted the focus to Louisiana.

Former Louisiana Congressman Bob Livingston, now a Washington lobbyist, has reportedly been in touch with Vitter over the past week. In an interview with WWL-TV, Livingston, a Republican, said he urged Vitter to get back to Capital Hill, "pick himself up and charge forward. We need him."

Kate Moran can be reached at kmoran@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3491.